Magazine online brand extensions profundity: Rafat Ali, in a post about magazine brand extensions online, suggests I might have something to say on the topic. I hope I do, as I’m speaking on that topic at next month’s Folio: Entreprenurial Publishing Summit.
However, right now I’m heading to dinner and a complex, nuanced film
starring Will Smith. I’ll have to ponder Rafat question during the
previews and answer later this weekend.

Don’t forget - tomorrow’s Nashville blogger meetup: It’s an early-bird special. Terry Heaton has the details.

Healthy fit: Folio: is reporting that Dowden Health Media is
likely to be sold to Lebhar-Friedman. All involved are friends. Congratulations.

Really something swell: Today, (via Steve Rubel) a Reuters article surveys
how news organizations are hopping (hoping?) on board the RSS train. And, from a
couple of days ago (I’ve been traveling), VC-blogger Kevin Law looks at a range of business possibilities related to RSS.

A
personal observation: When RSS is compared to “push” technology, it
makes me cringe, as my recollections of “push” are all bad. I recall
using “Pointcast” for about a week and getting rid of it because it
would take over my computer whenever it started downloading something.

Using
the word “push” to describe RSS is an incorrect metaphor (while it may, in a technical sense, be correct) as the user is
in complete control of what he or she receives. “Push” implies to the
publishing community the opportunity to blast out content in yet
another way. However, with my three-years of constant use of RSS, I
view it more as a means to “invite” and “control” publishers (citizen
publishers and professional publishers, alike); and not at all having
anything to do with having something “pushed” onto me.

Bottomline:
If you don’t know what RSS is all about, but you think “Pointcast” when
you hear the word “push,” then don’t make the mistake of thinking RSS
is anything like Pointcast. If you’re a publisher and you want to turn
RSS into Pointcast, well, try something else.